The Mask of Mystere
by The Joiner
Summary: After watching the Goddess imprison those under his protection, Leo must find a way to clear the doubt and fear from his mind.


Disclaimer:  I do not own Lunar 2: Eternal Blue or any of their characters.  GameArts and Working Designs do.  Please don't let the big bad lawyers get me.

This story takes place right after Hiro and the others are captured in Pentagulia.  Spoilers for those who haven't reached Disk 2 yet.

            Leo walked into his room in the White Tower and collapsed on the bed, sighing.  Over the last few weeks, he had begun to doubt his orders to kill the Destroyer, also known as Lucia.  Yet he had still kept his resolve and determination to follow them.  He knew that the four people protecting her were either under some foul enchantment, as in the case of his old friend Ronfar, or evil and power hungry fiends, as in the case of her consort, the boy Hiro.  He had known that he was doing the right thing by fighting her, and that Ronfar and any of the others she had bewitched would thank him heartily when he had slain her.

            And then came Azado, and he learned that what he knew was completely wrong.

            He remembered how he had, at long last captured them, when the town suddenly burst into flame.  He had freed Ronfar and Hiro, and they had set about trying to stop the Inferno Ghouls.  He had watched Ronfar, and seen that his old friend had no signs of bewitchment about him.  On the contrary, he had his trademark Zophar-may-care grin on and his healing litanies had a strength to them that could only be achieved by a priest who had an unwavering faith in his cause.  And the boy, Hiro, had fought with zeal to protect the townspeople.  He had even used his wind magic to blow Leo out of the way of an attack by the Flame Fang that would have surely incinerated him.  Then, when everything had finally calmed down, Leo had learned that it had been his own sister, Mauri, who had caused the blaze, and he decided, shocking even himself, that he would bring Lucia to Pentagulia.

            Throughout the trip, Leo had gone over the reasons he had decided to bring her here.  They had fluctuated from wanting to keep an eye on the Destroyer, to merely repaying the assistance her allies had lent.  Yet, as he pulled in to Pentagulia and prepared to lead Lucia and Hiro to the Goddess Althena, he realized that he had no reason, or, if he did, it was buried so deeply in his subconscious that he could not reach it.  As he entered the Goddess' chambers, he prepared himself to apologize when the Goddess inevitably blamed him for not only allowing the Destroyer to live, but also bringing her personally into the heart of Pentagulia.

            But when the Goddess came, she did not blame him for not slaying the Destroyer, nor did she prepare to wipe Lucia out of existence.  Instead, Althena _welcomed_ her, not as a subordinate, but as an equal.

            If that had surprised Leo, what he felt next could only be called shock.  Lucia just stared at Althena throughout her kind greeting, not saying a word.  The Goddess just smiled at her, and prompted her to speak up.  Upon hearing this, Lucia looked up.

            And looking straight at the Goddess, Lucia declared her a fake.

            Leo, Hiro, and the Goddess gaped at this pronouncement, but Lucia had wasted no time, and swiftly attacked Althena with a deadly magic spell.  Dragonmaster Ghaleon, the only person in the room who had not been stunned by the declaration, leaped in front of the blast and deflected it.  The former Magic Emperor had then proceeded to beat Hiro to a bloody pulp when he tried to protect Lucia.  All Leo had been able to do was convince the Goddess to let him imprison the boy inside the White Tower.  The guards had taken Lucia away, and only Althena knew where she was now.

            Leo looked morosely at the walls, wondering what he could do next.  Lunn, Mauri, and Borgan had arrested Lucia's other three companions under various pretenses.  

Leo knew that if he didn't help them, they might very well be locked up for the rest of their lives.  Also, if Lucia was right, and the Goddess was a fake, it was his duty as a servant of Althena to eliminate this imposter.  But if Lucia had been lying, then he would put his honor, reputation, title, and even his very life at stake by helping them.

            Leo sighed again, and with one corner of his mind, wished for the days of his childhood.  Back then, everything seemed so much simpler.  There were good guys, there were bad guys, and that was that.  He smiled, slightly, as he remembered the games he and his sister used to play.  He would put on a white mask, and call himself Mystere, while Mauri would wear a red mask and call herself Ree.  Off they would go, fighting evil, righting wrong, and turning Ronfar red (whether it was from embarrassment, or from keeping his laughter in, Leo never knew.)  If only things could be so simple again.  If only . . .

            Suddenly Leo sat up, eyes widening as realization hit.  Maybe they _could_ be that simple.  Leaping off the bed, he began to search through one of his trunks of personal belongings.  Even though Ronfar had disappeared by the time he had joined Althena's Guard, and Mauri had begun to change for the worst, he had brought several of his old possessions with him, to remind him of those carefree days.  And one of them had been the old mask he wore whenever he had played his superhero game.  Grinning, Leo slipped it on and looked in the mirror.

            He knew, in some corner of his mind, that this dinky little mask wouldn't fool anyone.  He knew that he would be recognized easily by any of the guards.  And yet, somehow, that didn't matter.  It was as though, with this one simple action, he had covered not only his face, but his fear as well.  With this mask on, he wasn't Leo, confused and indecisive.  He was Mystere, certain and resolute.  And, as Mystere, all the complexities of the situation simply faded away, with the doubts about his honor, and the fear of failure – or even the wrong kind of success.  All he needed to know was that here, right under his very nose, were five people being held prisoner, and at least four had done nothing to deserve it.  His duty was clear, his mind resolute, and his decision final.

            "Mystere, and away." he said to himself, grinning, as he left to save the day.

A/N:  My first fic done on my own. *Grin* Please read, review, and try to say something more helpful than "This fic R0XX0RS," or "This fic SUX0RS."  If you're wondering where I got Mauri's superhero name, try saying the two names quickly, Leo's before Mauri's.


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